Rail-support.



E. S. COBB.

RAIL SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6, 191].

Patented Jan. 8, 1918,

tinrrnn s'ra'rns Parana crates.

EDWARD S. COBB. 0F WHITTIER, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO COBB SHOCKLESS CROSSING CORPORATION, OF.NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RAIL-SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Original application filed January 11,1917. Serial No. 141.739. Divided and this application filed March 6,

1917. Serial No. 152,521.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. COBB, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'hittier, in the county of Los Angeles,

State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for supporting rails, especially for supporting movable rails, and more particularly for supporting such movable rails as I describe in 7 Patent No. 1,071,082. issued September 23,

1913, and in my application for switch and frog, S. N. 141.739 filed January 11, 1917,

and co-pending herewith.

It is a particular object of this invention to'provide an efficient, simple and strong support for a movable rail, which shall support the rail with'the necessary safety and forthe purpose of making the movable rails,

such as -I describe, absolutely uniform with the main rails of a track, and to thus make the" passage of trains'over an intersection, crossing. or switch as smooth and shockless as possible. -I have described in said Letters Patent, and in said eo-pending applica tion. forms of intersections andfof switches in which vertically movable rail portions are utilized, and in which the vertically movable rail portions form smooth and unbroken continuations of the main stationary rails leading 'up to the intersection or switch..

Such constructions as therein describedprovide an unbroken rail surface for the passage'of wheels; and the present invention provides a support for the movablev rail portions of'such a nature as to make the movable rail portions perfect continuations of the main stationary rails.

In the following specification I describe my invention as applied to a switch structure; not because my invention is limited to such a switch structure, but for the reason that a description of its application to such a structure most fully sets forth my invention and also indicates how the present invention may be applied to intersections, crossings. or the like.

Accordingly, I illustrate said preferred application of my invention to a switch structure in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of my switch structure with the present invention applied: Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section taken as indie cated by line 3-3 on Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section taken as indicated by line 44 on Fig.1; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section taken as indicated by line 5-5 on Fig. 1;

In the drawings the numerals 10 and 11 designate the main rails of a track and the numerals 10 ll and 10 11", des gnate the main stationary rails of switch tracks (either of which may form a direct continuation of the main track 1011, and one of whichmay. of course, be in reality the main track itself). rails 10 and 11eXtend between the switch points P'and the frog F. By alternately raising and lowering these rails 10and 1?, either of the switch tracks may be made to be a direct continuation of the main track 10. 11. For instance, by raising the switch rail 11 and lowering the switch rails 10. the rails 11 and 11? are directly connected 'for passage of flangedwheels, while the switch rail 1O is lowered sutficiently to allow flanged wheels to pass directly over the rails 10-10 The details of construction and operation of the switch mechanism herein shown are completely described in my sa d co-pendlng application; and 1tv 15 not necessary herein to go further into said.

it is immaterial whether the movable raii' portions, as 10 and 11, be straight or curved. In the particular instance herein shown, I have illustrated them as being curved in order to show the specific details of support of a curved rail.

Under each of the movable rails I place a.

supporting beam structure 20. Eachbeam structure is made up of a metal beam, preferably' of rolled steel of such formofcro'ss ticular case.

block formsthe direct supporting surface for the rails 10 31101111 .Now, this wooden filler block, and the bea'm 21, are, in each instance, of sufficientwidth andlength to lie under all parts ofthe supported rail, as is;

clearly shown in Fig. 1. In other words, wherethe rail is curved, the beam may be ofconsiderably greater width than the base of the rail, so as to take in and support all portions of the rail base. Of course, where the rail is of lesser'curvature, or straight, it is not necessary that the beambe sowide as in a case where the rail is of greater;

curvature. The supporting beam is, in all cases, preferably straight, so thatitmaybe supported upon suitable supportsarranged in a straight line. This straight line support of the rail and of the beam obviates any tendency of the rail and beam to twist over laterally due to its supports being out.

of line; and, at the same time, the fact that the beam underlies all partsof the rail makes it possible to put each support for the beam directly undertherail itself, This I will be seen tobe trueby inspection of the,

various views, in connection with the following description} Inthe specific form illustrated, I show three supports foreach beam. These supports are preferably in the form of cams 25 moun ted"upon cam shafts 26 and rotating un'der cam bearings 27; which are secured under the be'amsj21.

These cam bearings 27 n1ay be secured to the beams in any desired manner; but y i p efe o is eu' ei t m by he m o t 28 that are used to hold the rails '10 and,. 11v down on thefiller blocks 22. These bolts] h c ih ld "th r i s-d wn. p r dire t y through .the. railnba'ses, and; through filler o ks 22,. n e securedib low t e ams.

21; and it is'a function of theselboltsvtot holdtherailsdowmftopreventtheir upward therefor-embodying a supporting beam beneath the rail and arranged longitudinallymovement away from. the, supporting beam,

and at the sam'ejv time to allowf the slightl w wa d sil nt mqt n of t -tr i s d e,

to the, pressure and weight imposed upon hm That s. l h l hlt er il arh li w fi mly rea e beams; a dlipon t fillerv ksl eyt a e-o ly, .s' piipl tedqbyg' h re i i t. fi le lblecksj 31.- arejnot i y: ilway. .d' tectly support J by-ithe, Stee Yethe reassess-lawelid yrare a the rails are solely directly supported by the resilient wooden filler blocks which give the required jresilience of action and support 150"- make the movable rail portions'act-exactly as ,the ordinary rails act when supported upon wooden sleepers or upon sleepers of like resiliency.

may be operated simultaneously, to raise supported rails. The cams-for each beam In'theform' of device shown herein, the dif- I feren-t camshafts 26 are connected-together;- by chain drives 30 so that all of the cams and lower the supporting beams and the-:

areallsetso that they reach their highest and lowest points simultaneously, so that eachbeam is operated in horizontal position. And it will be particularly noted that the cams are placed so as to extend completely across under the'beams, and the cam bearings-27 are placed so asto not o-nly'be under the whole width, or practically the whole width, of the beams, but'alsoto be. under the supported rails, In other words, each beam is supported as a straight line beam, uponsupportsarranged {111 a stralght llne;

but these supports are of sufficient width ,to underlie all portions of the supported rail; so that, where the rail is curved, iteis, supported at all points upona structure which hasno tendencies to .tip over laterally. I have described the specific details of a preferred form of my inventionnot be vcausemy invention is necessarily limited a, thereto, but in order to make plainthe particular application of my invention to a specific situation, as well as to set;forth the 1 general features of my invention I ac cordingly state thatthe devices herein dc;

d scribed may be varied and'modified, as

will occur to ,those' skilled in this art, witht ep fi ng from myinvention, except as v d a d the following claims Having described a preferred form of my v nt on, I n

1. Incombination with, a rail, a support f at p i s p ed, a oneii s l 2. ,lnflcombinationwith .a rail, a support thereof, a resilient filler fblock' continuously.

v supported on saidbeam directly. supporting the rail,' means securing the rail by holding I" it down tothe beam and filler, thesole di- 4' rect support of the'rail being through the?" i I I Pfi l Tb QCk a ds e p'port e e beam at m t v Spa g s. I eams, The t slQbeams A .ermiithefl in. a i g jji: gt effective support for the rails andgtheyi therefor-embodying asupporting beam' beheath the rail and arranged longitudinally f thereof, a resilient filler block continuously supported onsaid beam directly supporting tudinally beneath the rail, a resilient filler block on said beam and directly forming the sole support of the rail, and cam means below said beam to support it and raise and lower it.

4. In combination with a rail, combined raising and supporting means therefor, embodying a steel supporting beam arranged longitudinally beneath the rail, a resilient wooden filler block on said beam and directly forming the sole support of the rail means securing the rail by holding it down to the beam and filler, and cam means below said beam to support it and raise and lower it.

5. In combination with a curved rail, combined raising and supporting means therefor, embodying a straight steel supporting beam arranged longitudinally beneath the rail, the beam being of such width as to lie under all parts of the curved rail, a resilient wooden filler block on said beam forming the sole direct support of the rail, said filler block extending under all parts of the rail, and forming the sole direct support of the rail, means securing the rail by holding it down to the beam and filler, and cam means below said beam to support it and raise and lower it.

6. In combination with a curved rail, a supporting means therefor embodying a straight steel beam arranged longitudinally beneath the rail and of such width as to lie under all parts of the curved rail, and a resilient filler block on said beam forming the sole direct support of the rail, said filler block extending under all parts of the curved rail.

7. In combination with a curved rail, a supporting means therefor embodying a straight steel beam arranged longitudinally beneath the rail and of such width as to lie under all parts of the curved rail, a resilient filler block on said beam forming the sole direct support of the rail, said filler block extending under all parts of the curved rail, and means for securing the rail by holding it down on the resilient filler block without supporting the rail.

8. In combination with a rail, combined raising and supporting means therefor, embodying a supporting beam arranged longitudinally beneath the rail, a resilient filler block continuously supported on said beam and directly forming the sole support of said rail, and means spaced along the length of said beam to support it and raise and lower it.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22nd day of January, 1917.

EDWARD S. COBB.

Witness:

ELwooD H. BARKELEW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

